Face the Music
by aFlOwErBlOoMiNgInAdVeRsItY
Summary: Introducing Port Royal Youth Orchestra! Features Elizabeth Swann as concertmaster, Will Turner as a talented, underappreciated violist, Captain Jack Sparrow as the lone bassist, Tia/Calypso as manager, and various antagonists as conductors [insert evil laugh here.] Modern AU, duh.


Elizabeth Swann stepped out of the car as soon as it stopped and raced down the concrete path outside the Community Hall, eager to arrive as soon as possible.

She shouted back a 'thank you' to George, the driver, who nodded at her before flipping open his magazine to read while he waited for them in the relative comfort of the car.

"Be careful, Elizabeth; you wouldn't want to drop your new violin!" her father, Weatherby, called after her. She did a mental eye-roll and kept running, shouting back to him, "Dad, you worry too much!"

She was in such a hurry this morning because she was going to audition for Port Royal Youth Orchestra. Young Elizabeth had been in a youth orchestra back in England, as well as participating in her primary school's music tuition program, since she was eight. She was eleven now, and in the four years that she'd been playing, she'd become exceptionally good for her age. It was her goal to become PRYO's youngest ever concert master, and she certainly seemed on track to achieve the title.

She very nearly collided with the slightly older boy in front of her, obscured by his double bass.

"Oops, sorry," she quickly apologised.

"No worries, luv," he replied easily, peering at her around his massive bass case. "Captain Jack Sparrow at your service."

Elizabeth did a double take upon noticing his wild appearance, but recovered quickly. "Elizabeth Swann. Pirate are you, _Captain_ Sparrow?"

He laughed. "Something like that."

He wasn't really a pirate, of course, but with his beaded dreadlocks, faded red bandanna, and scruffy clothes, he certainly looked enough like one. Heck, he was even wearing pirate-ish eyeliner!

"Elizabeth! I thought I told you not to run with violin." Elizabeth's father had caught up to them.

"There you are, Dad. This is Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth said. "He plays double bass."

"There should be a 'Captain' in there somewhere," Jack muttered. "And actually, I never said I played double bass; for all you know, the bass I'm holding could be me granny's, and I just be minding it while she nips to the loo."

Elizabeth refrained from pointing out that his hypothetical grandmother wouldn't be permitted to audition for a youth orchestra, and instead just silently willed him to shut up. Weatherby Swann was very proper man who was not to be messed with, and while he surely wouldn't say so until he had her alone, she knew he would not be particularly keen on his precious daughter being around the likes of _Captain_ Jack Sparrow.

"Weatherby Swann; Elizabeth's father. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Sparrow," he said, and it was very obvious he was not pleased to meet him at all.

"Right back at you, Mr. Swann."

"Well, it's _Governor Swann,_ actually."

 _Don't say it, Jack; don't say it…_ Elizabeth thought.

"In that case, I'm _Captain_ Jack Sparrow, actually."

 _And he said it._

"Is that so. And how, may I ask, did you gain that title?"

In the brief time she had known him, this was the first time Elizabeth had seen him looked embarrassed. "I- uh- I'd prefer not to disclose the details, if it's all the same to you. Sir."

By this point, Weatherby was furious with the boy, though doing his best to hide it.

"Very well then, _Captain_ Sparrow. Come along, Elizabeth," he ushered Elizabeth away from Jack and retrieved a few folded pieces of paper from his jacket pocket. "I'll give these to you now, dear. These first two are your permission slip and application form. You can't audition without these, so you must keep them safe. This last one is just information and a map of the hall and grounds, so you won't get lost. Your audition is… let's see… aha; 10:40 in the Sunday School room, which is this little one off to the side here – see? But it says that you can set up and tune in the main hall until then, and you have 35 minutes to do that now, then you go in for your audition and blow them out of the water! Good luck Elizabeth, and remember – call George when you're done and need to be picked up, I've got a business meeting until two."

"I'll remember. Thanks, Dad," she grabbed the forms and the map, hugged her father and skipped inside the building.

 **A/N: So, what do you think? Should I continue? (Future chapters would be longer and include more characters than this one, and soon I'll jump ahead and the characters will be the same ages as they are in the films. I just need to establish the premise first.)**

 **For all you non-musos out there: please don't give up on this story just because it has random music terminology that you've never heard of and don't understand, because, drum-roll please…**

 **I'M GONNA PUT IN MUSIC GLOSSARIES! YAY!**

 **Here's the first one now:**

 **Concertmaster – In an orchestra, the concertmaster is the leader of the first violin section. (There is another violin section, the second violins.) The concertmaster is the most skilled musician in the section, experienced at learning music quickly. They lead the entire string section of the orchestra. In the U.S. they are called "First Chair," and in the U.K, simply "leader."**


End file.
